She was born in Las Vegas in 1970 with the name Charisma Lee Carpenter. The name Charisma came from an Avon perfume, which she didn't really like too much.
Her parents moved the family around a lot, but she was able to study classical ballet since she was five years old and entered many beauty pageants. At 15, she moved to Rosarita City, Mexico (a suburb of San Diego) where she attended high school. Seeing her talents, she transferred to Chula Vista School of the Creative and Performing Arts, graduating in 1988. In High School she was a cheerleader and the typical teen, though her personality gave some the impression that she was snooty, rather than pensive which was really it.
After graduation, she travelled around Europe, went to college, became a property management worker and an aerobics instructor. But at long last, all that cheerleading paid off when she became a San Diego Charger Cheerleader.
In 1992, she moved to Los Angeles to start a career in acting and it went pretty well, landing in over 20 commercials while she took acting classes. She then starred in productions of "No, No Nanette" and "Welcome Home Soldier." But of course, she had the look that was a natural for TV, and she got the role of a guest on Baywatch as the love interest for Mitch's Son. That sparked the eye of producer Aaron Spelling who then cast her in Malibu Shores, a short lived series. A few years later, she would resurface on Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, a role she would become most famous for, Cordelia Chase.
She played in Buffy for five years before moving on to Angel, which she played for four years. After the fourth year, her character was in a coma and did not
return until the 100th episode during the fifth season. Now that both have
wrapped no telling what is next for this wonderful actress, but whatever it is, she will shine in the role.
Fun Facts
Is married and has a son born in 2003 at Cedar Sinai.
She enjoys horseback riding, roller blading, hiking and rock climbing. She skydived when she was 26. When WB found out, they would not allow her to do that again during her contract.
Was turned down for role of Buffy in Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. She later became Cordelia, who was only meant to be a short lived character. However, she was so popular with the fans, she became a regular in the second season and reprised her role in Angel. That is where she got to show her nicer side and not the snooty girl she was known for, which was closer to her personality. Oddly enough, she got the role after Bianca Lawson refused it. Bianca later played Kendra in a few episodes of Buffy.
Lost out to Kelly Rutherford in Scream 3.
She has a tribal sun tattooed on her back.
She has a birthmark on her jawline.
She is half mexican and half cherokee.
She has a tattoo of a Rosary on her wrist.
She tries to sign autographs in such a way that they won't be sold on Ebay. She also is one of the few cast members in Buffy that do not charge for their signatures at conventions. She also will not sign revealing photos like Maxim, FHM and Playboy that feature her.
She won three state titles for ballet when she was 13.
The role of Delilah in The Faculty, later taken on by Jordana Brewster, was written for her, but she refused it, since it too much resembled her role as Cordelia.
Appeared in June 2004 in Playboy.
She is good friends with Holly Marie Combs of Charmed fame, in which she guested on the show as Kira.
Made $50,000 an episode on Angel and $35,000 on Buffy.
Quotes
"I had my heart set on becoming an English teacher, but stumbled into acting after meeting a theatrical agent in my dad's restaurant in San Diego."
"Lots of doors have opened for me because of Buffy and Angel but, although I'm ambitious, I'm not going to just do anything simply because the money is good. If I can't love a project, then I'm not interested."
Upon hearing that Sarah Michelle Gellar got the role of Buffy:
"Initially I was disappointed, but while I didn't see it at the time, I know now I'm better suited to Cordelia. ... Moving from Buffy to Angel was great for me. On Buffy I wasn't all that high on the totem pole as far as responsibility and screen time. That all changed when I joined David [Boreanaz] in Angel. The whole thing has been such a buzz."
"You can take the girl out of Vegas, but you can't take the Vegas out of the girl."
"I was a little turned off by the idea of doing another bitch. But my agent put it to me quite frankly, that you have to be known before you can be typecast." (On her role as Cordelia)
"My mom owned a retail store, so I had these hot satin pants. I was like Satan at my all-Christian school."
Information from the Internet Movie Database | 